Honoring a colleague online

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While most agencies used their Web sites to keep the public informed about
developments during and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, one agency
used the Web to honor one of its own who died that day.

Rich Guadagno, refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
(FWS) Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Loleta, Calif., was among
the passengers on board United Airlines Flight 93 when it crashed in rural
Pennsylvania. He was returning to California after a vacation in New Jersey,
where he and his family celebrated his grandmother's 100th birthday, according
to the site.

Two days after the attacks, FWS posted a prominent link on its home
page that took visitors to a page honoring Guadagno, a 17-year FWS veteran
(www.fws.gov/fallen.html), said Charlie Grymes, Web manager for FWS. On
the page is a large picture of Guadagno and a brief biography. The same
link was added to the Interior Department home page.

On Sept. 14, employees at FWS' Pacific Region launched a more in-depth
site to honor Guadagno. The site (pacific.fws.gov/guadagno) is also linked
to the FWS home page and features comments submitted by friends, colleagues
and well-wishers, letters from FWS and Interior Department officials, and
pictures of Guadagno.

"The images paint a picture of a person who walked lightly on the earth
and shared himself as a wonderful, caring and sensitive person," according
to the site.

Grymes said the decision to highlight the Guadagno site on the FWS home
page was easy, but determining when to remove it will be difficult. The
link stayed up after American flags were again allowed to fly full staff
Sept. 23.

"We're still keeping the link at the moment," Grymes said. "This is
uncharted territory.